Here at Ripley-Grier, we try to find lots of little ways to make a difference.
Due to the sales of clothes, pens, blue bottles and holiday ornaments over the past few months, we were able to raise $510 for The Make-A-Wish Foundation at The Long Beach Polar Bear's Super Bowl Splash.

Lothair sweeps into the RG offices carrying a small bag, an infectious grin, and an abundance of positive energy. The son of celebrated Jazz bass player Cleveland Eaton, you can absolutely feel the driving force and complex harmonies of a childhood steeped in music that propels his broad frame down the bright hallways to come to a final rest in my office chair. Snow falls at a frightening pace outside. "I have a student coming in from Jersey, bless her heart!", he chuckles. After bonding briefly over our shared connection to Michigan (I grew up there, he went to Interlochen Center for the Arts) we delve into his time at his alma mater, Carnegie Mellon. "Such a tremendous experience", he says, "I started in the voice department, and got SOLID technique and theory work" before eventually switching his major to Music Theatre, where he worked with Beatrice Krebbs, a powerful and flamboyant teacher who was constantly flanked by her two dogs. After graduation, he made his way to New York, where he worked for 5 years before his agent sent him on a call to audition for the UK tour of Starlight Express. It was a bit of a disaster. "I do NOT skate" he says. Well, he didn't. After a particularly embarrassing first audition (raked stages and newbie skaters don't mix well) they continued to call him back until he eventually booked the role of Poppa The Old Steam Train his third time out, a role he has now performed over 3,000 times from Germany to New Zealand. After spending 18 years in Germany teaching and performing, he made his way back to New York, where he has turned his focus to vocal coaching. Lothair emphasizes a back-to-basics focus on technique. "No matter what you are doing," he says, " good technique can be applied to any style." He teaches students here at Ripley-Grier, in styles ranging from musical theatre to rock to R&B. He also teaches out at The Star Maker School in Clinton, New Jersey. No roller skates required.
Interested students can contact Lothair through his website:

March is Women's History month. What a history it has been!  Such progress!.  Some women have gone from chattel (property) to trophies (property). It has been a very

small leap for womankind. Several times in history women were leaders of tribes and territories. In some earlier societies they were the primary owners of property and the heads of households. Even today there are some

advanced societies that have

women as government leaders. In truth of fact, most women remain underpaid, under represented, and in general underappreciated, (many still indentured). "Just Sayin"!  

Patricia Ripley is the Founder and CEO of Ripley-Grier Studios and a certified Feng Shui consultant.